When fishing it is desirable to either fish where fish are naturally congregating in numbers, or to attract fish to the location where the fisherperson is fishing. To this end, various apparatus have been developed to attract fish using visual means, auditory means and olfactory means. Such apparatus may contain a variety of elements including, but not limited to, chemicals, rattles, and reflectors of ambient light all with the object of drawing fish closer to a lure and/or bait which the fish will hopefully bite or otherwise strike. With respect to visual attractants, at times when there is little ambient light such as at dusk, or at dawn, or on overcast days, or when fishing at great depths, ambient light fails to penetrate deeply into the water diminishing the reflection of light and making the lure less visible to fish.
There are known lighted fishing lures which combine an electrically powered light source with a fishing lure carrying at least one hook. Such know lighted fishing lures are designed and intended to be directly bitten/struck by the fish being sought. The electrically powered light source is physically embedded within the body of the fishing lure because of light source size and also so as to position the light source immediately adjacent the hook(s). Various drawbacks arise from this design. A first drawback to such known lighted fishing lures is the complexity of the electrical circuitry that allows the lighted fishing lure to operate including mechanical switches, resistors, diodes and capacitors which are all subject to failure and short-circuiting if directly exposed to a conductive fluid such as water. A further drawback is the requirement that such electrical circuitry components be carried within (inside of) the lighted fishing lure body which requires that the fishing lure body be hollow or otherwise define voids, spaces and/or aft pockets in which the electrical components are carried. These spaces/voids contain air which causes the lure to have some level of positive buoyancy which causes the lure body to tend to float. A still further drawback is physics based, notably that hydrostatic pressure increases with water depth at approximately 14.5 pounds per square inch (psi) for each 33 feet (10 meters) of water depth. Therefore, for every 33 feet (10 meters) below the water surface the lighted fishing lure is fished, the lighted fishing lure is subjected to an additional 14.5 psi of hydrostatic pressure. Such pressures crush lures that have any voids, spaces or air pockets therein. Seams or joints, such as an opening to install a battery or other power source, are particularly susceptible to leaks which cause short circuits and render the lighted fishing lure inoperative an unusable for its intended purpose. Lighted fishing lures that have switches, capacitors, resistors, diodes, wires or other complex circuitry require such voids, spaces and internal passageways which makes such known lighted fishing lures particularly susceptible to water leaks and resulting short circuits.
The McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms (5th Ed.) (1994) defines a “Switching Device” as: “An electrical or mechanical device or mechanism, which can bring another device or circuit into an operating or non-operating state. Also known as a switching mechanism. The New IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms (5th Ed.) (1993) defines “Switch” as; “(NESC) (transmission and distribution). A device for opening or closing or for changing the connection of a circuit. In these rules, a switch is understood to be manually operable unless otherwise stated.”
A still further known drawback to known lighted fishing lures is that each lighted fishing lure has a single unchangeable configuration. For example, a lighted “Repala®-type” fishing lure cannot be converted into a lighted “flasher-type” fishing lure, and a “large” lighted fishing lure cannot be converted into a “small” lighted fishing lure. As a result, known lighted fishing lures have limited uses because they provide little or no variability to a user.
What is needed is an apparatus that allows for the illumination of a variety of fishing lures and baits during use underwater in low light conditions that does not have the drawbacks of known apparatus. My invention provides such an apparatus by providing a waterproof light that attaches to the fishing line spacedly forward of the lure and/or bait. My line light is light-weight, durable, is not susceptible to damage by hydrostatic pressure, does not have complex circuitry or any switches, does not negatively affect “action” of the lure, does not have any spaces, voids or air pockets that might leak under hydrostatic pressure, is simple to use, can be kept in a tackle box and attached to fishing line at any time. My line light will illuminate fishing lures and baits underwater and generate reflectance off reflectors attracting more fish and thus, providing for a better yield of caught fish.
A reflection is an interpretation of light waves having a particular wavelength. While it is an organism's eye that receives light waves, it is the organism's brain that interprets those light waves and “sees”.
A transparent lens called the cornea is at the front of the eye to allow light waves into the eye. Behind the cornea is the iris, which gives the eye its color. By changing size, the iris regulates the amount of light entering the pupil, which is the orifice defined by the iris. Located behind the iris is a crystalline lens which focuses the light rays entering the eye onto the retina. The retina is the inner most layer of the eye and is covered with photo receptor cells. Light waves enter the eye through the cornea, pass through the pupil are focused by the lens and strike photo receptors on the retina.
There are two types of photo receptors, rods and cones, which are named for theft relative shapes. Rod type photo receptors perceive the intensity of light and enable an organism to see in low light conditions and in darkness. Cone type photo receptors perceive the wavelengths of various light waves and enable the organism to distinguish colors.
Humans are among the minority of mammals that have color vision. In the human eye, rods are found at the peripheral regions of the retina but are nearly absent from the center of the visual field, known as the fovea, where the cones are concentrated. The human eye has about 150,000 cones (color receptors) per square millimeter of fovea area. Humans' eyes have three variants of photo-receptive cones (known as red cones, blue cones and green cones) and for that reason humans are classified as trichromic organisms. Each variant of photo receptive cone carries a unique protein, called an opsin, that reacts when struck by light waves having wavelengths that correspond to the opsin's light sensitivity. It is unknown whether the reaction is physical, chemical or both. The reaction of the opsin is communicated to the brain allowing the organism to distinguish between red, blue and green colors. Thus, the world visually perceived by humans is dominated by light having wave lengths ranging from 400-750 nanometers, or blue to red respectively.
In contrast to humans, fish have tetra-chromic vision. The eyes of tetra-chromic organisms have four variants of photo receptive cones. In addition to having three variants of cones with opsins sensitive to red, green and blue light, fish have a fourth variant of cone with an opsin that is sensitive to UV light which presumptively enables the organism to perceive ultra violet light that is invisible to humans. The peak sensitivity of the opsin on this fourth variant of photo receptive cone is at about 358 nanometers which is known as Ultra Violet A (UVA) light.
As noted above, while a human eye has about 150,000 cones per square millimeter of fovea area, the eyes of fish have more than one million cones per square millimeter of fovea area. This large difference in the number of cone type photo receptors in the fovea presumptively provides bony fish and crustaceans with greater visual acuity than humans, as well as an ability to perceive UV light that is invisible to humans.
Ultra violet light penetrates more deeply into water than visible light and ultraviolet light is abundant in near surface marine ecosystems. It is estimated there is sufficient UV light for UV vision down to a depth of approximately 200 meters in clear ocean water, while visible light penetrates clear ocean water to a depth of only approximately 20-40 meters. The current prevailing hypothesis is that UV vision is primarily used by fish to improve detection of prey.
My line light apparatus overcomes various of the aforementioned drawbacks to known fish attractants by providing a simple illumination device that incorporates a battery carrying two parallel electrically conductive tubes to releasably carry an LED, and a line tube to attach the apparatus for a fishing line. The battery and tubes are covered in a durable water-proof coating to prevent short circuits. The battery powers the LED producing light that illuminates the lure and causes reflection there-off making the fishing lure more visible even at depths. The LED may have a variety of colors including, but not limited to red, yellow, green and ultra-violet. Each tube is welded to and in electrical connectivity with one pole of the battery and the line tube is fastened to one pole of the battery adjacent to and parallel with one of the tubes. The LED light has two electrical contacts and one electrical contact is releasably carried in a medial channel defined by each tube thus completing an electrical circuit and providing the necessary electrical energy to illuminate the LED light. The line light is carried on a fishing line by threading the fishing line through a medial channel defined by the line tube. The mass of my line light is less than approximately three (3) grams, and its position spacedly forward of the lure does not negatively affect “action” of the lure/bait by causing water turbulence or other water disturbances. Further, my line light has no voids or air pockets within its structure making my line light not susceptible to water leakage due to water pressure at depths that might cause short circuits or corrosion.
Some or all of the drawbacks and problems explained above, and other drawbacks and problems, may be helped or solved by my invention shown and described herein. My invention may also be used to address other problems not set out herein or which become apparent at a later time. The future may also bring to light unknown benefits which may, in the future, be appreciated from the novel invention shown and described herein.
My invention does not reside in any one of the identified features individually, but rather in the synergistic combination of all of its structures, which give rise to the functions necessarily flowing therefrom as hereinafter specified and claimed.